Vladimir Putin arrived in Kyrgyzstan Thursday, visiting abroad for the first time since the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him in March.

Russian news agencies TASS, Interfax and RIA Novosti reported early Thursday morning that Putin had arrived in Kyrgyzstan.

He is due to meet his Kyrgyz counterpart Sadyr Japarov and to take part in a summit of the Commonwealth of Independent States with his Belarus ally Alexander Lukashenko and other regional leaders.

The long-time leader has rarely left Russia since launching the Ukraine offensive in February 2022.

This year, he has travelled only to Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine, with his last foreign trips to Belarus and Kyrgyzstan last December — a far cry from the busy international schedule he had earlier in his rule.

Now, in a sign of Russia’s isolation, he is planning a visit to North Korea next, as well as China.

Moscow has likened the prospect of Putin being arrested abroad to an act of war, casting the warrant as “illegal”.

In practice, however, it has taken precautions: in August, Russia sent Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to a BRICS summit in ICC member South Africa, instead of Putin.

Source: AFP